In an era of increasing restrictions on funding streams available to support educational conference the money needed for early bird registration for IFOMPT can seem unattainable. Although winning the lottery may be an option for some, I haven’t won yet and the odds of me or any deserving physiotherapist winning aren’t looking good before the 4th of July 2016. However there are various ways of accessing funding outside of your workplace to attend.
MACP members can apply for various bursaries to support members attending courses and conferences as well as bursaries for members to present and disseminate their research at national and international conferences. I was lucky enough in 2012 to be awarded one of these bursaries to travel to an international conference in Dubai. It was one of the best educational experiences of my career and I would encourage all MACP members to apply for these bursaries and visit the MACP website for information and closing dates for applications.
Physiotherapist where I work have also looked at income gained from offering MSc clinical placements. Clinical mentoring opportunities that staff currently offer to students on MSc routes to MACP membership could be used to fund conference registration to IFOMPT 2016. 2 students on one placement can fund one member of staff to go to Glasgow for IFOMPT 2016. This exchange supports both students needing clinical placements but clinical mentors maintaining their knowledge by experiencing the wealth of educational opportunities that IFOMPT 2016 offers.
Managers also get to send their staff to an international forum where world leaders in MSK practice will be presenting their work ensuring that staff develop and maintain evidence informed practice in their workplace. I look forward to mentoring some more student later this year in the run up to July 2016 to try and get as many of my staff to Glasgow as I can. This once in a lifetime career opportunity of IFOMPT 2016 being held in the United Kingdom (my career anyway) is too good to miss.